Forecast discussion: At this very moment, snow squalls are pushing through Rhode Island and parts of eastern Massachusetts. The snow squalls are due to a passing Arctic cold front. They will push through Boston until 11 p.m., with clearing skies after midnight. As the front pushes through, high pressure ridging behind it will quickly take its place. Due to the quickness of the air pressure rising, this will create gusty winds from time to time, due to the tightening of the pressure gradient. Temperatures this evening will just stay above zero, but wind chills will make it feel like 5 to 10 below zero.

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A strong high pressure system will move over the Northeast U.S., giving us brilliant sunshine. However, that sunshine will have no effect in warming our temperatures. Temperatures will struggle to reach the lower 20’s in the capital city. Only some warmer air coming from southwest winds Friday night will keep our temperatures from falling into the single digits. Temperatures will reach freezing on Saturday, but we will see increasing clouds throughout the afternoon. The clouds are just the first sign of what is setting up to be a long running storm to end the weekend.

The computer models are all agreeing that a frontal boundary will set up across eastern Texas and move northeast east of the Appalachians and right into Southern New England. Some moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico will bring some snow showers by Sunday morning. This activity will be scattered, but will continue until Sunday evening. There will be a brief lull in the precipitation, as high pressure from the north brings in a little bit of dry air. But, the heavier precipitation comes by early Monday morning.

The models agree that the frontal boundary will push back to the north, and over Southern New England. We will begin to see steady light snow through Monday morning, and into the mid-afternoon. It appears that the heaviest snowfall will occur during the evening commute, with moderate to heavy snow at times. Some areas could see snow bands that produce up to one inch per hour snowfall. Also, we will begin to see increasing winds by Monday evening, as high pressure from the west once again tries to build into Southern New England. The snowfall would eventually come to an end by about 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. At this time, it is difficult to put actual snowfall totals on this storm. Despite a low riding up the frontal boundary, the actual location of the frontal boundary is crucial to determine snowfall amounts. For now, I would say the potential of seeing at least 6 inches in Providence by Tuesday morning is very good.

High pressure behind the frontal boundary will then build over New England, and give us dry but continued cold weather into the end of next week. Despite being in early March, high temperatures will be about 10 to 15 degrees below normal.

72 hour forecast:

Tonight: Scattered snow showers and squalls until 11 p.m. Clear skies after midnight and bitterly cold with the low falling to 8 degrees. Wind chills will make it feel like 5 to 10 below zero. Winds will be gusty at times.Friday: Mostly sunny with a high of 22. Winds will come from the west-northwest at 13-16 mph. Wind chills will make it feel like 5 to 10 below zero.Friday night: Partly cloudy with a low of 10. Winds will variable and less than 5 mph.Saturday: Sunny through the early afternoon, with increasing clouds the rest of the day. We will see a high of 33.Saturday night: Mostly cloudy with a low of 28.Sunday: Some flurries around 7 a.m., with light snow showers around 11 a.m. We will see a high of 35.Sunday night: Snow showers end by 9 p.m. but will return by 1 a.m. We will see a low of 22.

Extended Forecast:Monday: Cloudy and windy with light to moderate snow. Highs 26-29, lows 14-17.Tuesday: Light to moderate snow ending by the start of the morning commute, and becoming partly sunny by the afternoon. Right now, we could see up to 6 inches for total snowfall. Highs 23-26, lows 8-11.Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Highs 24-27, lows 11-14.Thursday: Mostly sunny with increasing clouds in the evening. Highs 29-32, lows 11-14.

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Jim Laurie has a B.S. in Meteorology from Lyndon State College, as well as a B.A. in Communications from Rhode Island College. Jim has gained 10 years of weather forecasting in the private industry. He has worked for Precision Weather Forecasting, Weathernews, Inc., and ImpactWeather, Inc. While working at Weathernews, he learned how to forecast wind, wave, and tropical forecasts for the entire ocean world. While at ImpactWeather, he was reponsible for creating forecasts for several oil platforms out in the Gulf of Mexico.